Milky Way Hosts a Proton PeVatron Far More Energetic Than the LHC
Astronomers have identified LHAASO J1912+1014u as a proton PeVatron in the Milky Way, accelerating protons to PeV energies—well beyond the Large Hadron Collider—based on multiwavelength data from Fermi-LAT, FUGIN, and Chandra that rule out electrons as the gamma-ray source; the exact engine remains unknown, but such galactic PeVatrons may be common and help explain the origin of the most energetic cosmic rays.